Mom of Many: Captain Bayley's Heir from Heirloom Audio Productions: A TOS Crew Review

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Captain Bayley's Heir from Heirloom Audio Productions: A TOS Crew Review

Captain Bayley's Heir from Heirloom Audio Productions
I love it when history comes to life! We have been transported back in time with Captain Bayley's Heir from Heirloom Audio Productions. This 2 CD set is the lastest release of The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty. With more than 2 hours of fast-paced adventure - my testers wouldn't let us out of the van. These are designed for ages 6-16 - but, we ALL love them!

We are long-time fans of GA Henty - a prolific 1800's author with a huge appeal to my boys. His tales are woven with strong, Godly characters that make us feel like we are right there. Heirloom Audio has brought his books to life with fully dramatized productions.
These are so professionally done, audio theater at it's finest! They boast Brian Blessed as the voice of G.A. Henty and a star studded cast including John Rhys-Davies, Jade Williams, Ian Porter, Finty Williams, David Shaw-Parker, and many more. This story follows young Frank from England to America as he learns about the power of Amazing Grace, and the gift of forgiveness. The story is filled with colorful characters and hold-onto-your-horses adventures. Frank encounters the grit of the American west as the gold rush is underway. He learns valuable lessons, and finds God's grace as he seeks to prove himself.

We really liked the double story-line, Frank's American adventure and Captain Bayley's adventure to find Frank and clear his name. We cheered, and we cried...and we fell in love. That's the power of these well-crafted stories. In addition, we were blessed to get some amazing bonus content to go with our story.

A playlist to listen to online, or download

A full Ebook (perfect for a Kindle!) and the Official Soundtrack

A Cast poster and full Study Guide

Even a inspirational Poster and wallpaper for your screen!

Our favorite is the Study Guide. This 38 page, downloadable PDF is filled with extra learning adventures you can incorporate into your listening. Sections correspond to each listening track and include activities like:

"Defining Words" - vocabulary to know
"Listening Well" - questions to use to help them remember what they heard
"Thinking Further" - questions to challenge them to think on what they listened to, and even to dig a little deeper and research more

In addition, throughout the Study Guide are sidebars filled with interesting historical facts like a "who's who" of the Gold Rush, what is Manifest Destiny, and a peek into a mining camp.

There are also three topical Bible studies included:

God’s Grace
Becoming a Christian
Honor Your Parents

Finally, additional resources are recommended to learn more. You can use this Study Guide to build an entire unit study around their listening!

But that's not all - online content is available as well. Be sure to check out the Live The Adventure Club at livetheadventureclub.com. It's filled with resources to help you make history come alive!

Links to many useful articles, projects, recipes, and more are in the Parent Resource section.

Study Guides for all the Adventures and lots of fun activities to explore!

My testers loved the section with a Read Along Script (I liked the Chapter Quizzes more than they did - they are an awesome tool!)

We give these productions our HIGHEST recommendations! In fact, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the "hint" we heard about the Battle of Hastings at the end our our audio comes true...

Other Heirloom Audios include:

Under Drake’s Flag - the story of Sir Francis Drake
In Freedom’s Cause - William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in their fight for Scottish independence
With Lee in Virginia - the American Civil War
The Dragon and the Raven - the Viking invasions of England
Beric the Briton - the Roman invasion of Britannica
The Cat of Bubastes - Ancient Egypt
In the Reign of Terror - the French Revolution